


We'll Do Lunch

by blackmariahlee



Series: We've Won the Battle, But the War Is Still Going [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Explicit Language, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Minor Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Post-Avengers (2012), Pre-Iron Man 3, Pre-Relationship, Shopping, Slow Build, Steve Rogers Feels, Tony Stark Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 06:18:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16402907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackmariahlee/pseuds/blackmariahlee
Summary: Tony Stark takes Steve Rogers out shopping and for lunch. Not cuz he has a big, stupid crush on Captain America or anything. Nope. Not at all. What could possibly go wrong?





	We'll Do Lunch

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a sequel? Continuation of Snowstorm. Like...a lot of time later. Oops. But here it is! You certainly don't need to read Snowstorm but it might help.

     Okay, so this was bad. Potentially very, very bad. Or it could be totally fine. But knowing Tony’s luck...it was bad. For now he was chalking it up to a stupid crush. Or a resurgence of a stupid crush. After all, who hadn’t fallen in love with Captain America at least for a little bit? He was quite literally perfect. Of course, Tony knew better than most that before he was Captain America, Steve Rogers was almost perfect. The hair and the eyes and the sheer dumb determination. He had read Dr. Erskine’s file. He had heard the stories from his dad and from his Aunt Peggy. And the beautiful bastard was living up to all of it.  
     Now, normally Tony would not be worried about a stupid crush. Except, here’s the thing. He’s in a relationship. Like, an adult, serious, committed relationship. And Steve was Captain America. So this crush was problematic at best. And fucking catastrophic at worst. And Tony wasn’t making things easier on himself by inviting Steve out for shopping and lunch. It was by no means a date. Just two guys. Hanging out. Totally normal.  
     “Tony?” Steve’s voice brought him out of his downward spiral of Oh Shit. He was looking at Tony a little puzzled. His brow furrowed slightly. The way it did when he was trying to solve a problem.  
     “Sorry, big guy. Checked out for a second.” Tony ran a hand through his hair. “Dangers of being a genius.”  
     “I wouldn’t know.” Steve sounded slightly amused and Tony had to resist the urge to smile. “I’m...not sure how I feel about this one...” He glanced down at the outfit Tony had picked out for him.  
     “What are you talking about? You look great!” Tony waved his hand at him. Steve raised an eyebrow.  
     “It isn’t a little...tight?”  
     “Haven’t you heard? That’s the look now. Have you not seen all of Clint’s outfits? Has to show off his arms all the time. Like, we get it. You’re useful.” Tony rolled his eyes and Steve chuckled.  
     “Be nice. Clint is having a rough time.” Steve mimicked throwing the shield. “I don’t know, Tony. I feel like it’s gonna tear if I move too fast...”  
     “Do you anticipate fighting Doombots in jeans and a t-shirt?”  
     “You never know.” Steve shrugged.      “Should always be prepared.”  
     “You’re such a good Boy Scout.”  
     “I was never a Boy Scout.” Steve turned back to walk into the dressing room and Tony thought it should be illegal for such an innocent phrase to sound so dirty. That was probably just Tony reading too much Captain Kirk into it but still.  
     “What do you want for lunch? Old or new?” Tony pulled his phone out. Three new messages from Pepper. Nothing too terrible then. It could wait.  
     “Old? What is old lunch?“  
     “Aside from the early bird specials?”  
     “You’re just hilarious.”  
     “Old, familiar, vintage. You know, pizza, burgers, hot dogs on Coney Island. Or new. Sushi, ramen, pho, fusion cuisine. Shwarma.”  
     “Not sure I’m ready to see Coney Island for the modern era just yet.” Steve opened the dressing room door and stepped out with his arms full of clothes. All of which Tony had picked out. “Are you sure you wanna buy all this?”  
     “Absolutely. You’re 90, not a hipster.” Tony dropped his phone back in his pocket and grinned at the look of confusion on Steve’s face. “I‘ll point them out to you. Let’s drop those at the front and we’ll have them sent to the Tower.”  
     “This is really generous of you, Tony. I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to do this for me.”  
     “Well it’s my pleasure, Cap.” Like playing dress up with a Ken doll. “And I’m not really as busy as I say I am. I just want people to think I am. Like Fury.”  
     “I still appreciate it. More than anybody at SHIELD did for me.” Steve shrugged and Tony glanced over at him. It struck him again how young Steve really was.  
     “What do you expect from a shady government agency? That’s why you’re at the Tower. With me and Bruce. We’re better people.” Steve laughed and Tony immediately felt better. Stupid crush.  
     “And I will pay you back.” Steve carefully handed each item of clothing to the wide-eyed sales girl.  
     “Please, Cap. Money is literally no object for me. Stock in Stark Industries went through the roof after the battle. Guess seeing me flying around and fighting aliens is good for business. Can’t tell Pepper that though.”  
     “Didn’t you just say stock was up?”  
     “I think it’s the whole, I’m also her boyfriend thing that gets her a little cranky.”  
     “Oh.” Steve smiled at the poor, poor sales girl as he handed over the last of the clothes. “I guess that makes sense.” Did it? Tony had thought about that a lot over the last week or so. Was Pepper right to want him to quit the whole Avengers gig? Then again, weren’t relationships about compromise?  
     “What did you decide about lunch? Familiar or new?” Steve looked at him and furrowed his brow a little again. What was the puzzle this time?  
     “I think new.” He smiled then and it was different than the polite smile he had given the gawking sales people. It reminded Tony of the first time he had ever seen Steve smile. When Tony had woken up to see Captain America hovering over him. Except it hadn’t been Captain America. It had been Steve Rogers. Tony was starting to understand that they weren’t always one and the same.  
     “New it is.”

     New turned out to be Indian food. A little hole in the wall that Tony had found years ago. Steve had looked at the menu, a bit bewildered, before Tony simply ordered one of everything. Probably the best way to go about finding what he does and doesn‘t like. Though why Tony had decided that was his job was a mystery. Okay. Not much of mystery. The slight scrunch of Steve’s nose as he took a sip of his Coke. Fuck.  
     “So, have you got a list going?”  
     “A list?”  
     “Of everything you plan to catch me up on?” Tony resisted the urge to smile.  
     “I don’t wanna spoil anything, Cap. But I may have to start my own YouTube channel called ‘Captain America Reacts’. Like Kids React but so much better.”  
     “Should I be worried?” Steve raised an eyebrow and Tony shrugged.  
     “I’ll try not to scandalize you too much. But I can't make any promises that your old-fashioned values won’t be offended.”  
     “You do know that I served in the Army, right? It was integrated and everything.” He rolled his eyes and took another drink from his Coke. The scrunch was still there.  
     “Does it taste different?”  
     “Everything tastes different.” It was small. Subtle. And maybe if Tony didn’t have a huge crush on the guy he wouldn’t have even noticed. But unfortunately for everyone, he did. Something about the way he said it was just...sad? Sad or maybe nostalgic. Either way, Tony wasn’t sure the hole in the wall Indian restaurant was the best time or place to have any kind of deep heart to heart.  
     “Yeah. I bet.” He didn’t really know how to answer that. Deflect. Evasive maneuvers.      “You settling into the Tower all right?”  
     “I am, yeah.” Steve set his drink down and looked at a spot on the table. “You’re bein’ too good to me, Tony.”  
     “Come on, I’m supposed to let Captain America stay in a shitty apartment, alone, with subpar electronics? What kind of American would I be?”  
     “I guess so. I just...you know, that stuff I said on the Helicarrer--”  
     “Hey, all troubled water under the bridge, Cap.” Tony waved it off. He did not want to talk about this again. That whole scene had been ugly. Everyone had been. Except Thor. He was just kinda...there.  
     “No, I know. But...I want you to know that none of that really had anything to do with you.” Steve sighed and glanced around at the restaurant. “That was all me. I was angry and I took it out on the wrong person. When I read your file, I actually really admired what you had accomplished. I kinda hoped we would meet.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Messed that up I guess.”  
     “...We all said things we didn’t mean.” Tony shrugged and wished he had never decided to take this guy out for lunch. This was way too...Too much.  
     “Did we?” Steve sat back in his chair. “Bruce seemed pretty sure of what he was saying. Maybe he didn’t wanna say it but...he meant it. I guess I meant it too. But not about you.” Fuck. Shit. Shit. Goddammit. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Tony was going to have to actually apologize. Because apparently Steve had taken what Tony said in that stupid lab to heart. Apologies were not his thing. He apologized to Pepper once in all the time he had known her. He made her a shitty omelet.  
     “Listen, Cap--”  
     “Steve. You can call me Steve.”  
     “...Steve. A lot of what I said wasn’t about you either. That was all...” He did not wanna bring Howard into this. Not right now. Not without a drink. “That was my own shit. I know you were special before Rebirth.”  
     “Tony, I--” Luckily, at that moment, the food arrived. Tony had never been so fucking happy to see Indian food before in his life. Steve smiled at the server and let whatever he was going to say drop. Tony spent the next couple minutes pointing out all the dishes and describing them for Steve. And then they ate in silence for a while. Steve taking a little of everything and then going in for seconds on the things he really liked. Tony may or may not have been taking mental notes. Shut up.  
     They finished their meal without any more deep, emotional conversation. And Tony had gotten out of it all without actually apologizing for anything. Thank fuck for that. As they waited for Happy to pull the car around, Tony checked his phone again. Three messages had jumped to eight. Damn. He better call her.  
     “Did you forget about lunch?” Pepper at least sounded slightly amused. Good. Less pissed off and more vaguely irritated.  
     “Nope. I just finished lunch.”  
     “...Our lunch?”  
     “We were having lunch?” Pepper sighed on the other line. Vaguely irritated was very into annoyed.  
     “And what did you have for lunch? A smoothie with Dum-E?”  
     “Actually I had Indian with Captain America.”  
     “You had lunch with Steve?”  
     “...His first name is Captain, Pep, please.”  
     “I thought you two didn’t get along?”  
     “We are...working on it. Tony and Steve get along better than Captain America and Iron Man. It’s team building! I’m learning to play well with others! You should be happy!”  
     “I’m not not happy, Tony. I just wish you had remembered that we were supposed to have lunch and maybe called me.”  
     “Well I got distracted by buying him new clothes.”  
     “Why are you buying him clothes?”  
     “I can’t let him walk around like Mr. Hipster Universe in khakis and plaid shirts. I can’t. It was a public service.”  
     “Okay. Well dinner tonight then? I’m heading back to Malibu tomorrow morning and it would be nice to see you before I leave.”  
     “Yeah, yes. Dinner. Absolutely. We’re on our way home and I’ll see you for dinner.” Tony hung up before she could answer. Pepper was going back to California. To his actual house. He had gotten so wrapped up in the Battle of New York and Bruce and Steve and the Avengers...he had forgotten that he didn't normally live in New York. Huh. Stay in New York with Steve and Bruce and maybe Natasha and Clint depending on how charitable he feels. Who knows about Thor. Or go back to Malibu with Pepper. His girlfriend. He had been contemplating proposing before all of this. Before the Avengers. ...Before Steve. Fuck. He was in so much trouble.


End file.
